Wednesday, July 26, 2006
9:14 PM
I attended a brainwashing session (which they called an MOE Induction Programme) at the Civil Service College last Thursday. The brainwashing was quite thorough. Before tea, there was an engaging talk on the big picture of our educational landscape by a very sharp and knowledgeable lady which opened my mind. And after tea, there was an inspiring speech by the Principal-designate of Northlight School (http://my.asia1.com/sub/budget2006/story/0,6634,376446,00.html) that tugged at my heart.
I'm a very slow person. My friends used to say that to make me laugh on Monday, they've got to tell me the joke the previous Friday. It seems that when it comes to brainwashing, I'm even slower. A good one week after all the talks, whilst I was on the bus to SAFRA to sign up for the Sheares Bridge Run, the effects of the brainwashing began; I started thinking about education, and I felt like some ideas just dropped into my head:
One of the main aims of an education system in a society is to produce citizens, regardless of social status, to be well-equipped to contribute back to society; to produce citizens who can and will be appropriately useful to society. So an education should produce good doctors, good teachers, good chefs, good technicians, good labourers... good everythings.
From a secular point of view, a person can be said to have led a meaningful and purposeful life if he or she has contributed to the general betterment of the society. Great people discover cures and vaccines to diseases that save millions of life and improve the medical standards of society. Not-so-great people can make a child's day by being gentle and understanding when administering that painful injection and thus also improve the medical standards of society as well. If both the above doctor and the nurse keep doing what they do, they can be said to be leading a useful life.
I think people in general, if given a choice, would prefer to lead a useful and thus, meaningful life, to know that what one is doing is actually beneficial to at least one other person other than oneself. And then I realised that, from a Christian perspective, this was because man was made in the image of God, and God, as manifested in Jesus, was a humble servant; Man was made (not primarily, though) to serve.
Of course, very often, the pragmatic realities of life set in, and ambition and material pursuits take precedence. I know a senior who's now a lawyer. She tells me she was full of idealism just after she graduated and wanted to be a good lawyer, but now she is just a glorified clerk with paperwork up to her neck and was struggling just to clear her 'in' tray consistently. For people like her, I suppose it seems that the greater good of society has no place nor importance in their lives. Material success and financial well-being becomes paramount.
Some people under such circumstances succeed in achieving their new goals, whilst others fail. However, at the end of the day, whether they lead a contented and happy life actually doesn't depend on the extent of their success. Human avarice is limitless. Material success cannot satisfy because there's never enough. However, knowing that you've contributed to the progress of society, or an organisation, or even just someone else apart from yourself, would bring meaning and purpose to one's life. And to be able to, at the end of the day, feel that there's currently meaning and purpose in your life, would make most people contented and happy.
The knowledge that one is a contributing part or member of a greater entity, and to see it achieve and progress beyond what any individual can do, that is what brings true joy in life. Examples that come into mind are orchestras, soccer teams, NPCC/NCC units, and society, and of course, the body of Christ. Thus, I'd go so far as to say that more than society needs its citizens to contribute to it, us citizens need to be able to contribute to society before we become complete and content.
And it is in schools where the required skills are taught, and it is up to the education planners of a society to determine how to allocate appropriate teaching of all the required skills in society so that everyone can be useful, so that there's no oversaturation nor shortfall of skilled workers in every sector of society.
...
Didn't realise that the aims of the education system in Singapore was actually THIS noble huh, did you?
Heh.
Soon, I'll be telling you about the virtues and achievements of the MOE and it's educational policies...
Comments:
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5 comment)
Ha. Ha. Ha.
I thought we were taught to induce vomitus? Not very much different from Bulimia...
HAHAHA!
I thought we were taught to induce vomitus? Not very much different from Bulimia...
HAHAHA!
# posted by 
: 11:05 PM
: 11:05 PM
hahaha brainwashing sessions eh.. at least MOE doesn believe in EUGENICS...
And my humble research wun get me peanuts lah, what nobel prize! Although hopefully it will eventually lead to more research which will eventually benefit mankind... in the distant future... two lifetimes from now.... sigh
And my humble research wun get me peanuts lah, what nobel prize! Although hopefully it will eventually lead to more research which will eventually benefit mankind... in the distant future... two lifetimes from now.... sigh
Education may serve to be a grooming process for the betterment of society. On the other hand, it is also an essential aspect for the functioning of society. Like a symbiosis. In that sense, it's not noble... it's inherently selfish.
# posted by : 12:41 PM
: 12:41 PM
Hi, chance upon ur blog when I was Googling for MOE Induction. This was a great read and very inspirational too!
Yes, I agree who would have thot that education goes that deep and its not a matter of getting 'A's in ur report card. It's a matter of emerging as a better person prepped for life.
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Yes, I agree who would have thot that education goes that deep and its not a matter of getting 'A's in ur report card. It's a matter of emerging as a better person prepped for life.